Collapsible basket

ABSTRACT

A collapsible basket having a collapsible fabric basket body, a hard bottom board attached to the top surface of the bottom panel of the basket body, and two support open frames formed of a respective metal wire rod and respectively hinged to the top side of the basket body at two sides and attachable to two opposite vertical peripheral panels of the basket body to support the basket body in shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates a basket and more particularly, to a collapsible basket.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

In order to save storage space, various commercial collapsible storage containers and baskets are created. These collapsible storage containers and baskets commonly have a fabric container or basket body, a plurality of horizontal top rods and horizontal bottom rods respectively horizontally fastened to the top and bottom sides of the vertical peripheral panels of the fabric container or basket body, and a plurality of vertical rods respectively vertically fastened to the junction between each two vertical peripheral panels of the fabric container or basket body. Further, each vertical peripheral panel of the fabric container or basket body has crossed folding lines. If the storage container or basket is not in use, the user can twist the horizontal top rods relative to the horizontal bottom rods to collapse the storage container or basket.

The conventional collapsible storage containers and baskets are functional, however they have a complicated structure, resulting in a high manufacturing cost. Further, for easy carrying by hand, these storage containers and baskets must be mounted with additional carrying handles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a collapsible basket, which has a simple structure and is easily collapsible. It is another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible basket, which has the support frames thereof usable as carrying handles. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the collapsible basket comprises a collapsible fabric basket body, a hard bottom board attached to the top surface of the bottom panel of the basket body, and two support open frames formed of a respective metal wire rod and respectively hinged to the top side of the basket body at two opposite sides. The support open frames can be turned inwards and closely attachable to two opposite vertical peripheral panels of the basket body to support the basket body in shape. Alternatively, the support open frames can be turned outwards to the outside of the basket body for use as carrying handles.

The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a collapsible basket in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side plain view, showing the support frames attached to the associating peripheral panels inside the basket body according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side plain view, showing the support frames turned to the outside of the basket body according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the bottom board for the collapsible basket according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side plain view, showing the support frames attached to the associating peripheral panels outside the basket body according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side plain view showing the collapsible basket collapsed according to the present invention.

FIG. 7A is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7B corresponds to FIG. 7A, showing a barrel mounted in the wrapping material around the top rim and one short side of the associating support frame.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternate form of the collapsible basket according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a collapsible basket in accordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a basket body 1, a bottom board 3, and two support frames 2 provided inside the basket body 1 and respectively hinged to two opposite vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1.

The basket body 1 is made out of a soft fabric material in a circular, oval, rectangular, or any of a variety of shapes. According to this embodiment, the basket body 1 is a substantially rectangular container having a rectangular horizontal bottom panel and four linked vertical peripheral panels respectively connected to the four sides of the rectangular horizontal bottom panel and defining a top open side. In order to reinforce the strength of the basket body 1 and to enable the basket body 1 to be firmly supported in shape, a rigid top rim 13 is provided at the top side of each of the vertical peripheral panels around the top open side of the basket body 1 (see also FIG. 7A), and a bottom hem 12 is formed on the bottom side of the vertical peripheral panels around the four sides of the rectangular horizontal bottom panel of the basket body 1. By means of folding up the bottom edge of each of the four vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1 and then fixing the folded part in shape with stitches, the bottom hem 12 is made. Alternatively, a rigid bottom rim can be provided at the bottom side of each of the vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1.

The aforesaid rigid top rim 13 is made of a metal wire rod, i.e., the metal wire rod is bent into shape and affixed to the four vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1 around the top open side of the basket body 1.

The support frames 2 are rectangular open frames respectively formed of a metal wire rod. According to this embodiment, the support frames 2 are rectangular open frames, having a length not less than the depth of the basket body 1. The support frames 2 each have one short side respectively hinged to the top side of one of two opposite vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1. The support frames 2 may be hinged to the basket body 1 in either of the following two ways. In the first way as shown in FIG. 7A, a wrapping material 11 is wrapped about the top rim 13 and one short side of the associating support frame 2 and then stitched to the associating vertical peripheral panel of the basket body 1. In the second way as shown in FIG. 7B, a barrel 13 is used to hold the top rim 13 and one short side of the associating support frame 2 on the inside, and then a wrapping material 11 is wrapped about the barrel 13 and then stitched to the associating vertical peripheral panel of the basket body.

The bottom board 3 is a hard board that can be directly embedded in the bottom panel of the basket body 1. In this case, the bottom panel of the basket body is made having two layers respectively covered on the top and bottom sides of the bottom board 3. Alternatively, the bottom board 3 can be directly put inside the basket body 1 and supported on the top side of the bottom panel of the basket body 1. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bottom board 3 has two side notches 31 at two opposite sides. The width of the side notches 31 is approximately equal to the width of the support frames 2 so that the other short side of each of the support frames 2 can be respectively positioned in the side notches 31 of the bottom board 3.

When in use, the support frames 2 can be turned inwards to the inside of the basket body 1 and closely attached to the associating vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1 and engaged into the side notches 31 of the bottom board 3, as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the support frames 2 can be turned outwards to the outside of the basket body 1 and closely attached to the associating vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1, as shown in FIG. 5. Further, the support frames 2 can turned to the outside of the basket body 1 for use as carrying handles, as shown in FIG. 3. When not in use, the two support frames 2 are turned outwards from the associating vertical peripheral panels of the basket body 1, and then the basket body 1 is collapsed, as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows an alternate form of the collapsible basket according to the present invention. According to this embodiment, the basket body 1 is a flat rectangular container made out of a soft fabric material and provided with a cover, and the two support frames 2 are respectively hinged to the vertical front and back panels of the basket body 1.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 

1. A collapsible basket comprising: a collapsible basket body made of a soft fabric material, said basket body having a bottom panel, a plurality of vertical peripheral panels connected to the border of said bottom panel and defining with said bottom panel a top-open receiving chamber, and a rim fixedly provided at the top side of each of said vertical peripheral panels remote from said bottom panel; a plurality of support frames hinged to said rim of said basket body for supporting said basket body in shape, said support frame each having a fixed end hinged to said ri, a free end opposite to said fixed end, and a length defined between said fixed end and said free end, said length being greater than the depth of said top-open receiving chamber; and a hard bottom board secured to said bottom panel inside said basket body.
 2. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bottom board is embedded in the bottom panel of said basket body.
 3. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bottom board is supported on a top side of said bottom panel inside said basket body.
 4. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bottom board has a plurality of side notch in the border thereof for receiving the free ends of said support frames opposite to the hinged side.
 5. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bottom board has a plurality of side notch in the border thereof for receiving the free ends of said support frames opposite to the hinged side.
 6. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of said support frames is 2, and the two support frames are respectively hinged to said rim at two sides corresponding to two opposite vertical peripheral panels of said basket body.
 7. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a wrapping material wrapped about said rim and one side of each of said support frames and stitched to said vertical peripheral panels of said basket body to secure said support frames pivotally to said basket body.
 8. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a barrel holding said rim and one side of each of said support frames on the inside to secure said support frames pivotally to said basket body, and a wrapping material wrapped about said barrel and stitched to said vertical peripheral panels of said basket body.
 9. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basket body has a bottom rim extending around the border of said bottom panel.
 10. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basket body has a rectangular shape.
 11. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basket body has a cylindrical shape.
 12. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basket body has an oval shape.
 13. The collapsible basket as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cover hinged to a top side of one vertical peripheral panel remove from said bottom panel for closing said top-open receiving chamber. 